Following in the footsteps of the likes of Apple and Sony, Microsoft has announced via a press release that it is going to launch a chain of Microsoft-owned and operated retail stores. From the press release it becomes clear that the retail stores are not so much about making huge profits, but more about learning from customers what they want and to spread the Microsoft brand.

What a way to squander a fortune! As your brand is becoming less popular (unlike Apple whose brand is becoming more popular) move from online into retail where expenses are higher and profit margins are smaller. Its only downhill from here.

Actually I completely agree here. In 1996 I was living in Zurich, and in Zurich there was a Microsoft store. So this was something they did before.

If Microsoft REALLY wanted to make themselves hip and cool, then they should focus! Here is a suggestion, focus on a lean and mean Windows! Get rid of all of the crud and just create a lean and mean Windows. I think you would be surprised how many people would think twice about Windows then...

Uh, judging from the public beta, Windows 7 is far from lean. It's leaner than Vista, but even OS X Leopard is lighter than that hog of an os, and no one can pretend OS X Leopard is small.
Granted, I am judging from the public beta, and it's not the final. Hopefully MS can make it leaner and meaner, but I doubt it based on their previous track record.

I admit I think that this doesn't sound like an amazing idea. You can already go buy MS stuff in Staples if you really want to, and most of the people I know just place their orders online or over the phone. However, it might be a good marketing idea, if executed properly.

But yeah, the people that bash businesses for taking risks tend to be the ones in their "secure" jobs, working for a company that was started by a guy who took a very similar risk. Most businesses fail. A few go on to make millions. I can guarantee you won't make millions if all you do is work for $40k/yr for someone else and spend all your income on consumer products.

This might turn out to be a very smart move that could garner Microsoft a brighter future.

In the last several years, Linux has moved forward as have BSD, OSX and others. Add to this the recent blow to MS when Cuba announced they were going to move away from MS products. Losing an entire government is a huge financial set-back.

It might be nice to go into a Microsoft Store and try out their new hardware & software products? Remember when Apple relaeased the iPhone? EVERY Apple store was packed with people playing with and purchasing iPhones.

Every company drools at the prospect of having what Apple had with the release of the iPhone.

I'd be interested in seeing what MS does with their concept of a retail store. Would it rival Apple? Would it force Apple to change/add locations or alter their pricing?

There are a lot of plus factors in this, regardless of how people feel about MS.

A very smart one. Microsoft already have a strong relationship with corporate consumers and this should strenght it even more, given the fact that people tend to see the Microsoft brand often. There is a household market to conquer (expand?), and a Microsoft Retail Store is a good place to show how Windows is easy for grandma.

Why would Cuba re-deploy something that failed four decades ago and as a track record proving it's not free software nor really Open Source , that don't even support their language or hardware and what's worst itself ?

they also have a small sideline in software to fill any gaps on the shelves...

Yeah, I heard they have some kind of work-place related word processor, but that will never prosper. I think they have some product called, Windows XP Office that runs every thing on your computer too.

MS make plenty of hardware - some of it is pretty decent. I bet they will introduce some MS branded computers in the near future.

If Microsoft sold actual computers, I'd expect Dell, HP, and Acer, etc, etc to slap them with the mother of all anti-trust suits. These guys practically purgered themselves to keep Microsoft out of anti-trust trouble last time... they have lots of documents that would drastically incriminate the big Microsoft.

I think if Microsoft DID come out with a "computer" it would be "xbox" based.. They've been buying up virtualization companies and positioning things like .net to be CPU agnostic for a while. Imagine the suits that would eat up a glued-shut system where software was locked down and stable and as easy to install as an Xbox game... (ok, don't imagine that if you get paid good money to fix the current Mess) But that wouldn't run "windows" so it wouldn't be a "PC". The trick would be to get people on the .Net software that can easily be packaged for other CPUs and DRM'd. So ISVs could quickly adapt... something Microsoft is incapable of doing (look at them begging for Vista support)

Unfortunately, Microsoft is incapable of the kind of secrecy needed to pull something like this off. They have the technical skills, but not the marketing and management skills that Apple has.

Microsoft are in for a world of hurt, ridicule and a lot of wasted money if they follow through with this. They simply don't have a brand or an image that anyone cares about like Apple or Sony. Sony's name isn't even that great, and their stores have a reputation for being grossly overpriced.

I am excited about helping consumers make more informed decisions about their PC and software purchases....

:-) I think this is something they don't want to get involved in. It's a completely different world they know nothing about where their general attitude will kill the business.

I got an idea that wants to be shared. If anybody wants to file a patent on it - be my guest, I don't have time for this, I'm a honest family man.

So if you leave your computer unattended, and a monitor is turned off by APM, there could be a method integrated in the computer (hardware device most likely) that would prevent you to use the input devices. If you cannot see the desktop, how can you know what you're typing, so it would be the best to prevent this.

But not only for desktops, not only for MS Windows and OSX users! Imagine what a great tool that would be for headless systems! Thousands of users are connecting to such systems via SSH and other methods and are typing in stuff blindly, without actually seing the desktop and thus causing chaos all over the world. This invention could probably be enforced under the Patriot act.

Following in the footsteps of the likes of Apple and Sony, Microsoft has announced via a press release that it is going to launch a chain of Microsoft-owned and operated retail stores. From the press release it becomes clear that the retail stores are not so much about making huge profits, but more about learning from customers what they want and to spread the Microsoft brand.

With PCWorld and the like, don't Microsoft already have hundreds of retail stores worldwide?

They realize now that they can not remain this faceless brand that everyone just happens to have products of because they simply come with every computer and that's it. Microsoft is starting to become an actual, real company now.

Yes good observation, and the thing is Windows 7 is not THAT great. I really imagine it in a very absurd way, they try to announce and market Windows 7 in this super-duper great way, but all that people really want is just XP updated to be able to play the latest DX 10/11 games and be able to use new hardware, and new updates for the OS. It will work for SOME people, but will be overall pretty ridiculous.

I think it's a stupid move. It's just not their business, but what the hell... They're successful on most businesses they enter.

I'm not sure about that one, depending on what you mean by entering a business. They've deployed Office, Windows, and Server to lots of companies for lots of tasks, but their other actual products are all money holes and flops.

I guess the nice thing about having virtually unlimited money is that you can throw large bills of various denominations at the wall just to see which ones stick. It would be interesting to see how they would react if someone cut off *their* air supply. "Knifed the baby", so to speak.

Whenever I walk into any sort of computer store, which is admittedly something I try to avoid, in the same sort of way as I avoid the idiocy which we call TV programs (and their associated commercials) today, I'm always struck by the fact that no matter who owns and operates them, they are run *as though* they were owned by Microsoft. I guess Microsoft fears that might change, and has decided to take a more "hands on" monopolistic approach from now on.

Fine with me. Puts them more recognizably in sync with "traditional monopolies" like Standard Oil. People like my dad, who think you've got to be brick and mortar to be monopoly, will start to recognize them as such.

The nice thing about monopolies is that their own implicit desires eventually result in the actions they take which, in turn, result in their inevitable demise.

The nasty thing about monopolies is that if they play their cards right, it can take a *very* long time for them to get to that point.

This is starting to look like end-game for Microsoft. I give them 10 years, or less, before they are "just another IBM". But I don't weep for them. Being another IBM is hardly a bad thing to be. Just a less *harmful* thing to be.

Microsoft should buy out PC-World.
After all they can't make any more of a hash out out of it that DSG International (aka Dixons). Perhap they can train the staff a bit better than their current employers do?

Hmmm, on second thoughts perhaps they can.

This is a total crap idea unless they have the gall to CHARGE makers like HP & DELL to display their PC's in their magical emporium. And they will all be scrabbling to get their wares on display in case they don't lose out to a competitor. Sigh

All I wonder is how long it is going to take for some script kiddie to seed a virus into their network...
I'll donate £10.00 to Red Nose day if it is more than 1 hour.

Instead of a Genius Bar, they should do something more in the spirit of Microsoft. I'm thinking a 'Bridge bar' in the spirit of Bill Gates' love of bridge tournaments. Young, hip people will flock to the store to learn how to play Bridge and maybe pick up a brown Zune while they are at it....

Can you imagine that many Microsofties under one roof? Spurting incomprehensible babble to customers, explaining why the red ring of death is a good thing, somehow, for the umpteenth time, and basically trash-talking anything and everything Mac/Linux/threat-to-their-ignorance.

You walk into a store and it’s already full of Microsoft software with little choice, now imagine it full of people with no clue as well. I couldn’t imagine a worse shopping experience.

Saracasm people . I’m sure these MS shops won’t be quite as tumbleweed-empty as Sony stores.

--
Oh, I should add, it’ll be a great place to *not* get advice about free software to meet your needs, instead of overpriced Office software.

Think of it this way - it will be the staff’s *job* to sell MSOffice instead of OpenOffice, WMP instead of VLC, Zune instead of iPod, WMA/DRM instead of MP3, OneCare instead of AVG/Avast...

Full disclosure: it matters little to me what happens to MSFT, but this concept is bizarre enough that I have to comment.

The first thing I thought when I read the story was: How does this improve their bottom line? As far as I can tell this is strictly an expensive and elaborate marketing effort. OSes and applications are already available at plenty of retail stores and on the 'net. I don't see anyone going out of his way to stop by a Microsoft store for the latest copy of Office.

From the article:

We’re also working hard to transform the PC and Microsoft buying experience at retail by improving the articulation and demonstration of the Microsoft innovation and value proposition so that it’s clear, simple and straightforward for consumers everywhere.

So they're going to roll out an entire (experimental) sub-business so that a full-time staff in blue shirts can explain why there are so many versions of e.g. Vista?

If I were a substantial shareholder, I'd do everything I could to put a stop to this - and fast.

I wonder if some of the stores will shut down unexpectedly or if clerks will follow customers around accusing them of shoplifting. Will customers have to prove they're really customers before they will be allowed to buy anything? This reminds me of that old joke that passed around e-mail some time ago entitled "If General Motors were like Microsoft..". The concept of Microsoft stores is laughable.

It sounds like a bad joke at first but in reality it's a good idea. Take into account that they would have higher profit margins selling hardware and software direct to customers and cutting out the middle man. As long as the store overhead doesn't eat too much of the gross profit it's a win for Microsoft. Keep the stores in major cities or near factory outlets. I'll believe it when I see it.

What makes a Diamond? heat and pressure . . . of course it starts with coal . . . in the current market Microsoft is just "coal" but they are under much more pressure today than they have ever been. If they keep the pace they have; in just a decade or so they will be at best #2 in the global OS market. I think it is important to boycott the MS stores, this will continue the pace until Microsoft learns a good lesson. After the dismal failure of Vista and the advancements of Linux and software development in general Microsoft for the first time in the history of the company sees the day they will have true competition on the desktop. It will happen; it is just a matter of time. This article is part of the recent slue of information that proves MS is having serious market trouble. Think about it . . . why else would they need to take such a drastic measure? They will be spending hundreds of millions to make this happen. For those of us that are informed we see the writing on the wall just as MS sees it. Just wait and watch.